The over used but oh-so fun Stark Internship
by KayMacBurn
Summary: Peter is just there for an interview but he isn't very good at hiding his excitement or his nerves. Little does he know that's not the only secret he isn't very good at hiding.
1. Chapter 1

Peter stared up at the tower with a mixture of fear and awe. Never, in a million years, did he ever suspect he would be standing in front of Stark Industries about to go in for an interview for a Junior Internship.

Normally it was only college students that got to apply but the higher ups decided that younger minds might bring a fresh perspective with them, so they opened the door for the best and brightest under eighteen to apply.

Peter and Ned had both applied for the simple reason that they would never forgive their former selves if they didn't at least try.

They were dumbfounded when they both made it to the second round. Ned was cut from the third round but was a good friend by joining Peter in a celebratory dance when Peter got word that he would be moving on.

Now it was down to ten and that meant it was interview time. Interview with CEO Pepper Potts, Chief head of human resources and Chief of security to be exact. Peter had to admit he was fanboying at the idea of meeting the CEO but also crapping his pants a bit at the idea of meeting the CEO.

"Oh, oh man. OK, ok Peter. It's not so bad right? You have stared down robbers with guns. You have literally flow across the city using nothing but a 3 cm thick web. What do you have to be nervous about here?" His brain answered him despite his anxiety needing this little pep talk. "The most powerful woman in modern industry is about to talk to me. That might be a good trigger I guess."

He was about to turn around and just slink home when his phone buzzed in his pocket.

The simple thumbs up on his screen from Ned was all he needed to see. He sucked in a deep breath and walked through the front doors.

The beautifully designed lobby was both inviting and intimidating. His eyes took in everything from the glassy marble floor, to the silent waterfall behind the front desk. Even the people looked better in here, wearing matching spotless lab coats and smart business attire.

Suddenly self-conscience Peter tried to flatten the wrinkles out of his button up shirt before approaching the attractive young woman behind the desk. She was currently talking on the phone, so Peter stood by patiently waiting for her to finish.

Once she clicked off her ear piece she looked to Peter with bright blue eyes.

"Hello and welcome to Stark Industries! How may I assist you today?"

"Um, yeah, hi. My, my name is Peter Parker. I am here for an interview at 930? For the junior internship." He pushed out past his stuttering lips.

The woman tapped away on her computer for a moment before flashing him a wide smile that both increased his heart rate but calmed his nerves.

"Here you are right here Mr. Parker. How exciting, one of the top ten candidates!" She flipped through a small box of visitor passes before finding his and handing it to him. "This is a one-day pass to floor 32, where your interview will take place. Please keep it on you and visible at all times for security reasons."

"Thank you, Ma'am," Peter said with a small smile, as he clipped the badge to his front pocket.

"You can call me Stacy," the woman said with a grin, "No need for that Ma'am stuff here. Also, when you are talking to Ms. Potts don't use that one on her either, she says it makes her feel old."

Peter blushed a deep red but managed to keep his response audible.

"Thanks Stacy, I will keep that in mind!"

"Once you go through these security gates you can take one of the silver elevators to floor 32. And good luck!"

Peter definitely felt like he was going to need it. He gave the kind receptionist a wave over his shoulder as he headed for the security gates.

Upon watching a few employees enter before him, he knew to swipe his card at the black terminal before walking through.

"Peter Parker. Midtown School or Science and Technology intern prospect. Clearance level white."

Peter froze and looked up at the ceiling. The security officer at the gate chuckled a bit at the look on his face.

"Don't worry about her kid. That's just F.R.I.D.A.Y. She is Mr. Starks AI, she controls everything in this building. You will get used to her." He assured him as he ushered him through the rest of the security measures.

He eyed the security system out of curiosity. He never knew that Stark had built an AI like that. But what was even more intriguing about it was that FRIDAY was having actual conversations with some people while doing her job else where. Very cool.

Not sure if he would ever see in inside of Stark industries again, Peter took his time to take everything in. He had a been a bit early so this was a nice for him to be able to collect his head and focus on the sciences around him. At least that was something he understood, unlike most social interactions which left him flustered.

He pressed the button for the elevator, and while he waited the queue filled up around him. None of the employees even gave him a second glance but that didn't mean he didn't study them.

Glancing around their preoccupied hands Peter was able to get little glances at what they were working on and it just made him giddy to be standing in the presence of these great minds.

Finally, the elevator arrived, and everyone piled on. Peter managed to hit the number 32 button before being shoved to the back of the box. Sandwiched between a pretty engineer and a burly chemist.

Peter tried not to eavesdrop, he really did but in such tight quarters it was impossible. The two were arguing over their best course of action involving a new material they were manufacturing, and how to use it without it clogging up the dispensing devices. The solution seemed simple to Peter but probably because it was the same way he manufactured his own web solution to come out of his web shooters.

Peter gently cleared his throat.

"Why not change the composition slightly so that it becomes a sheer-thinning liquid? That way it sublimates when expelled and won't clog the moving parts."

Both stared at him.

"How?" The engineer demanded.

Peter took out his pen and wrote out the formula on a blank sheet of paper offered by the chemist.

The two stared at it for a long moment. The rest of the elevator's occupants watched and waited to see if the youth was right.

"Wow." The Chemist said slowly, "I never thought of this. This is brilliant!" he looked at Peter wide eyed before glancing at his badge. "Peter Parker, intern prospect? Well I will tell you this young man, Ms. Potts will be getting a recommendation from me as soon as I get to the lab. Your name should be on this project as of now!"

"Thank you, sir, that is very generous of you!" Peter said as his face flushed a deep red but broke into a smile as well.

The elevator thinned a bit by the 32nd floor but not by much. Peter exited before the two scientists did so he gave them a wave as he stepped off the lift.

"Good luck Peter!" The engineer yelled before the door closed.

Feeling validated by the elevator ride, Peter continued down the hall with a spring in his step. Of course, that was before he realized he didn't know where to go from there.

Stacy had told him the 32nd floor but not what room.

Peter glanced at his watch then around the maze of hallways. This floor seemed to be dedicated to offices and board rooms, so it could literally be anywhere.

His anxiety started to boil up in his stomach again.

"Keep it together Peter. You've been doing good so far. Just keep. It. Together." A simple thought popped into his head. The chances of it working were slim but it was worth a shot. "Um, FRIDAY? Ma'am?" He called.

The prospects of the AI acknowledging someone that didn't even work there was slim but Peter was rewarded by the feminine voice addressing him.

"Yes Mr. Parker?"

"Sorry to bother FRIDAY, I am supposed to have a meeting at 930 with Ms. Potts and I don't know which room it is in. Would you be able to help me, please?"

There was a moment pause.

"Make your way to room 346, down the south hall."

"Thank you very much Friday."

Another pause.

"You are most welcome Mr. Parker."

He really must have been going crazy but the AI sounded amused. He wasn't sure if that was even possible.

Luck was with him and he found the room without much problem and with time to spare. Out of nerves Peter started talking and FRIDAY started answering.

He was in the middle of a very detailed conversation when the door opened and the one and only Ms. Pepper Potts stepped out. She glanced at the ceiling for a split second.

"Were you just talking to FRIDAY?" She asked. Peter blushed a deep red.

"Y-yes, I was. She helped me find the right room then I sorta started rambling about some of the logistics of the buildings system and she was answering some questions." He spouted out quickly, "I hope I didn't disturb you and I am sorry if I wasn't supposed to be talking to her. It's just so cool and …"

His speech was cut short when Mr. Potts raised a hand to stop him.

"No, it is alright Peter. We are ready for you now, please come take a seat."

Peter nearly ran into the room, face still red but a nervous excitement spurring him on. He greeted the other two people standing around the round table before sitting in his own chair. He clasped his hand together in hopes to keep them from bouncing as he waited for them to start.

"It seems your reputation has proceeded you here Mr. Parker," Ms. Potts said with a whisper of a smile, "I just got off the phone with one of our lead Chemists praising you, as well as one of the lead engineers. They said your quick wits have saved them weeks on their current project and Mr. Herrington even went so far as to tell me he wanted your name on said project. He didn't think it was right to take your formula with out proper acknowledgment or compensation."

If it was possible Peter turned an even deeper shade of red.

"No -no, Ma'am .. Ms. Potts! ." He stammered quickly correcting the title, "I was just happy to help and I am sure they would have figured it out on their own anyway!"

"Maybe. But they know it now thanks to you. Also, you should know FRIDAY isn't programmed to talk to just anyone. She has the ability to ignore anyone with the exception of myself, the Avengers when they are here, and Mr. Stark. So the fact she actually answered your questions tells me she likes what she has scanned." The smile was there fully now.

Peter was pretty sure he was going to die from praise and for once had nothing to say.

"Let's start this interview, shall we?" Ms. Potts announced as she slipped back into her professional demeanor.

Once the conversation turned to more relatable topics Peter was happy to engage the trio. They asked about some of his school papers that had been sent along with his application, his future aspirations, and some science based questions that the three, although were the one's that asked, didn't understand his answers.

After about forty minutes Ms. Potts got to her feet and shook Peter's hand.

"That's it Mr. Parker," she said with a smile, "We will be in touch by the end of the week with the results!"

"Thank you, Ms. Potts. It was really an honor to be allowed to come into Stark Industries!"

As he turned to leave his hearing picked up the head of security muttering to the HR lady.

"That kid should be interning with Stark himself. Maybe the good manners will rub off!"

That made him smile.

Once he hit the main lobby he shouted a thank you and a good bye to FRIDAY before heading for the door. He smiled wider when the AI wished him a good day.

Could his life get any better?

Switch to Mr. Tony Stark

Tony replayed the conversation again, and again of Peter talking to FRIDAY. Then watched the security tapes on the elevator and in the interview room.

His computer hummed for a bit as it pulled up all public records, and some not so public records of the fifteen-year-old. His grades and family life became facts the billionaire stored away for future reference.

Then YouTube popped up.

"FRIDAY, what is this?" He asked.

"All videos pertaining to Peter Parker as requested Boss."

Tony Stark was rarely impressed but after watching the videos he had to admit he was.

"FRIDAY, you are sure that's the kid?"

"Yes Boss. Peter's biometric scan from today confirm that it is him."

With a knowing smirk he grabbed the keys to the Audi and headed down to the garage. Queens wasn't that far away.


	2. Chapter 2

Peter was sitting in his room finishing up the last bit of homework he needed done for Monday. Yes, it was only Friday, but he wanted it out of the way before the weekend, so he wouldn't have to worry how late his patrols would take.

The apartment was buzzing with the vibrations from May's music. She loved to crank it up when she was cleaning,, and Peter didn't really mind. He hummed along as he wrote out the last algebra equation.

At first no one heard the knock on the front door. Then Peter caught it on the second attempt.

"May, someone is at the door!" He yelled trying to get the last calculation done.

Since they weren't expecting company May didn't bother turning the music down. Solicitors lasted about two minutes after she started in on them, so she didn't expect this to last long.

Peter paused when the music was shut off and heard his Aunt stammer just a bit. She never stammered, that was his thing.

Taking comfort in the fact his Spidey-senses weren't going off he peered around his bedroom door curiously. His stomach then decided it was going to jump up and join his tonsils in the back of his throat.

Tony Stark. The Tony Stark. Genius, billionaire, self-proclaimed playboy, philanthropist was standing in his living room.

He was going into fanboy mode. He didn't want to, he didn't want to embarrass himself in front of the man he idolized but he wasn't sure how he was going to get himself to stop. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you looked at it, Mr. Stark took some of the glamor off himself when he smirked widely and kissed the top of May's hand making her blush just a bit.

Not wanting to see anyone flirt with his aunt Peter quickly cleared his throat and waited for the adults to acknowledge he was in the room.

Both turned to him and Peter lost all courage as the sheer presence of the man made him falter.

"Peter!" May exclaimed before rushing over to take his arm. She guided him to stand in front of the Billionaire. "Mr. Stark was just telling me he wanted to come see you personally about your internship interview!"

"Uh, um -yeah? Hi, Mr. Stark – Ironman, sir! I'm, I am Peter." Peter shot his hand out quickly to shake but the man seemed not to notice so he pulled it back, unsure of himself.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Pete, and call me Tony," He said as he walked a few steps into the living room looking at the various photos on the walls. "I must say when I looked over the notes from your interview with Pepper I was impressed, and your paper on my arc reactor was a great read. Then to see your name crop up again on a top secret project that no one is even suppose to know about yet, wow, I had to come meet you myself and personally congratulate you on your successful application."

Peter stood there shocked for a full thirty seconds.

"Suc-Successful application? You mean, I got it? I am now working at Stark tower?" He gasped.

Tony flashed him a smile.

"Provided you say yes of course. You weren't thinking of turning me down were ya kid?"

"Oh-oh god no Mr. Stark, I mean, this is awesome! Yes! Yes, I most definitely accept!" Peter gushed then continued to ramble for a bit longer. The amused billionaire finally cut him off.

"Great. I have some papers for your Aunt to sign and you can get your stuff together for the orientation weekend."

"Orientation weekend?" Peter repeated.

"Two night, all inclusive stay at Stark tower in order for me to properly gauge your skills. With parental permission and liability waiver pending of course." Tony typed a few things into his phone and a hologram popped up for a series of legal looking documents.

Peter looked over to May and waited to gauge her reaction.

"Wow, Mr. Stark, do you take this much initiative with all your new hires?" May asked as she flipped through the papers reading the fine print.

"Honestly, no. I try not to get involve with Pepper's hires, nor do I want the responsibility." He admitted causing May to pause in her reading and look at him confused, "Peter will not be a Stark Industries intern."

Peter felt his heart drop and confusion twist his stomach.

"So what kind of intern will he be?" May asked with a look that clearly showed the answer better be good for putting her nephew through this rollercoaster of emotions.

"Mr. Parker will be my personal intern. He will work for me directly."

Peter almost had a heart attack right there. May smirked at the look on his face and went back to flipping through the papers to make sure Stark was being level with her and her nephews' interests were well taken care of.

"You alright there, kid?" Tony asked as Peter leaned forward on his knees taking deep breaths.

"This is the best day of my life!" He declared. "Wait till I tell Ned! This is amazing!"

"Peter," May said. Peter looked up at her with a smile that would light the sun, "Go pack a bag while me and Mr. Stark hash out the rest of this paper work."

The teen practically ran from the room in his excitement.

First thing he did was shove his spider-man suit into the bottom of his bag, he would try and get at least one patrol in. He wore his web shooters because you could never know when they might be needed. He changed his shirt to a cleaner one with a science pun on the front then threw a couple more in his bag along with pants and boxers.

He glanced around the room and wondered what else he would need at the tower. Nothing came to mind, so he grabbed his phone and positioned himself in the bedroom door with Mr. Stark and his aunt in the background of a selfie.

The picture was immediately sent to his best friend Ned, who in return blew up his phone with questions of what, where and why.

He gave him the quick notes before bonding out to the living room not wanting to keep Tony Stark waiting.

"Alright. Well this all seems in order." May said looking over at Peter. She then turned a hard glare at Tony. "I would assume it goes with out saying that you are to take care of my boy? Proper meals, reasonable bed time, and not working him too hard, he is only fifteen!"

"Of course, Mrs. Parker," Tony said kissing May's hand again and flashing her a smile. "I will make sure he doesn't do anything he doesn't do at home!"

"Well, ok then," May pulled Peter in for a hug obviously feeding of his excitement, "You have fun and make sure you text me lots! And pictures, of anything that isn't classified!"

"Got it May!" Peter was quick to kiss her cheek and bounced out the door behind Tony. "Love you!" He shot over his shoulder as they left.

It took a one-hour car ride through the city to Stark tower for Tony to take a liking to the kid. His boundless energy, sharp mind and innocence were quite endearing.

He didn't even mind that the kid literally never shut up. The only moment of silence came when they could finally see the tower.

Peter couldn't help it when he literally giggled at the sight. The giggle turned to bewilderment as Tony pulled into the underground parking that was camouflaged as a loading bay. The floor dropped down to a ramp in front of them and the billionaire eased the Audi into his personal parking space.

"This is sooooo cooool!" He whispered.

Tony smiled and soaked up the look of awe on the boys' face.

"Easy kid, this is just where I park. Wait till you see my lab!" Tony snickered.

At those words Tony was pretty sure he gave the kid the second heart attack of the evening.

Peter was thinking the same thing. He closed his eyes and counted back from twenty trying to stay grounded before he made a complete ass of himself.

"OK, ok, ok! I am good! Your lab!? Really?" His big brown eyes stared at Tony with what could only be described as hero worship.

They took Tony's personal elevator up to level 72 where they entered the man's personal labs. The door itself was locked with a keycode, retinal scan, and of course FRIDAY.

"Hey FRIDAY!" Peter said without thinking. The odds of the AI remembering him were slim.

"Hello Peter! Nice to see you again!"

Tony paused at the warm tone FRIDAY took with the boy.

"Nice to be here! Did Mr. Stark tell you I will be interning for him?!"

"He did Peter. Provided this weekend goes well he has you listed for Alpha level clearances, with some restrictions."

Peter paused and looked at Tony confused.

"What's Alpha level clearance?"

"That means you will be able to come and go as you please from this lab, and the upper floors of the tower, if you prove to me you are as good as I think you are. But kid, you must earn that trust ok? I am not just going to hand you an all access pass without proof mu judgement wasn't misplaced." Tony warned. He punched in his code and waved the teen into his lab.

Peter seemed to straighten at the man's words, eager to prove he had what it took. He forgot that though when he entered the lab and quickly reverted to a kid in the candy store.

"FRIDAY, order three extra large pizza's please. Works." Tony snickered before following the teen.

Five hours later both were happily tinkering away and filling themselves up on cold pizza

Tony watched as the kid put some finishing touches on a new prosthetic arm for Barnes'. Normally he wouldn't have let anyone touch it, but this kid was quickly growing on him, and had even made a suggestion that Tony hadn't thought of before. So, there he was, leaning over the boy's shoulder talking him through the procedure.

Neither noticed a third party enter the lab. Only once they finished the delicate work did said party clear their throat.

"Ah-hum," Pepper Potts coughed, both guys turned to her as one. Tony looked like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar, the actual kid looked extremely pleased with himself.

"Hello Ms. Potts!" He greeted cheerfully.

"Hello Peter. I must admit I am surprised to see you here, on this floor, with Tony." She said looking pointedly at the man himself.

"Oh well, you see Pepper hun, I invited our newest intern to spend the weekend, so I could see what he was made of!" Tony said, lacking his normal confidence now that he faced his significant other, "And don't worry Mrs. Parker signed all the proper paperwork and waivers for him to be here!"  
"Newest intern? The committee hasn't even made it's final decisions yet." She stated. Peter fidgeted nervously and glanced at Tony.

"Well yes, the junior stark internships are still up for grabs, but young Mr. Parker here already has an internship, so you should probably take him off your list." Tony grinned at the stunned look on Pepper's face. "Pepper Pots, you have met Pete, my personal intern, right? He officially works for me."

Peter fidgeted again.

"How about I go get us some drinks?" Peter asked suddenly, not liking the tension in the room.

"Yes, thank you Peter, that would be great." Pepper said, cutting Tony off.

As soon as he left Tony dove into his thoughts excitedly before Pepper could chastise him.

"This kid is amazing Pep. His IQ is about level with my own and you wouldn't believe how quick he picks things up! He just upgraded Bucky's arm with barely any help from me. He has potential!"

"You have never hired any one, ever, Tony! You don't take interest in people. What makes this kid so different!"

Tony smirked knowingly.

"I admit I had a different reason for bringing him here. I really just thought I would confront him on something then pass him off to you once I was done but this kid is actual someone I want to keep around."

"What were you going to confront him on?" Pepper asked quickly, not liking that Tony was keeping something from her.

"Not my secret to tell Pep, sorry. But we will see how the weekend goes."

She didn't like that answer but to see Tony take this much interest in anyone that wasn't him was refreshing.

Just then Peter hesitantly poked his head in the door. Once he realized the two weren't fighting and seemed to have come to an understanding he happily joined then with waters.

Another hour and Pepper made it a point to shut the lab down, stating that one in the morning was late enough for a fifteen-year-old. Tony whined more then the kid did but they both listened and followed her up to the residential floor.

Peter continued to chat away as the billionaire opened the door to the spare bedroom.

"This is you," Tony advised, "It has its own bathroom and there is a communal kitchen down the hall on the left. If you need me just ask FRIDAY. I am on the floor above."

"OK. Thanks Mr. Stark! I still can't believe I am here!"

"Night kid, try not to gush all over my new rugs eh?"

Peter flopped on the bed and wrote a quick message to May then shot off a huge book to Ned, telling him everything that he got to do and touch.

The two fanboyed together for another half an hour before Peter said good night and rolled over on his bed.

It was all too surreal.

Any thought of patrolling was squashed when FRIDAY informed him the windows at this level did not open. Sighing he put on his pajamas and laid down. New York would have to survive without him this weekend.


	3. Chapter 3

It was late, and Peter just couldn't sleep. With all the excitement from the day and the fact he hadn't gone on patrol to burn his excess energy had him tossing and turning in bed.

"Hey, FRIDAY?" Peter asked.

"Yes Peter?" FRIDAY answered.

"Is Mr. Stark awake?"

"No, Peter."

"Is it ok if I go to the kitchen?" Peter asked.

"Ok course Peter, you may access the living area as well."

Peter hopped out of bed.

"Great. Thanks FRIDAY!"

"You are welcome Peter."

Tony lived on the floor above this one so Peter didn't have to worry about waking the man with his activities. So, once he reached the kitchen, he asked FRIDAY to turn the lights on and went routing through the cupboards. His enhance healing, and super strength also meant he had enhanced metabolism and that meant he was always hunger! More-so then even regular teenage boys.

A quick glance into the fridge told him that Mr. Stark liked to keep his pantries stocked. There was everything he could possibly imagine stuffed into the double wide fridge and freezer.

"Ah, FRIDAY? Is this food for any guest?" He asked nervously, he didn't want to eat anything he wasn't supposed to.

"Of course, Peter. The communal kitchen is open to any of the Boss' guests!"

Peter smiled widely and rubbed his hands together gleefully. He was hungry and there were so many choices.

The kitchen looked a little worse for wear when Peter was done cooking his grilled cheese and bacon sandwiches with baby dills but he vowed he would do his own dishes when he was done. No need to make Mr. Stark angry by leaving a mess.

He had just sat down with his first sandwich half way to his mouth when he heard the shuffle of feet. His Spidey-sense didn't tingle but his curiosity did. Peter had assumed he was the only guest on this floor but obviously he had been mistaken. Right away he felt guilty for making a racket in the kitchen and having the lights on.

"Something smells good," He heard a man mumble.

"It can't be Stark, he doesn't cook well enough for it to smell this good," Came a reply.

"Who else would be up at three in the morning though, the man doesn't sleep! Probably down here to avoid Pepper catching him again!"

Peter debated sneaking off before the to men came into the kitchen, he didn't feel like being questioned on who he was but the delicious sandwich was just to damn beautiful to abandon. With a sigh he set the sandwich down and waited for the visitors to arrive that way he didn't have a mouth full of food when greeting them.

All three parties were not prepared for who they saw.

Sargent James "Bucky" Barnes and Captain Steve Rogers froze and stared at the kid sitting on the stool as if they weren't quite sure he was real.

Peter had heart attack number three since Tony Stark had showed up at him apartment.

Captain America was the first to recover.

"Hello," he said slowly as if the kid was going to run away at any loud noise.

Peter managed to squeak out a 'Hi'.

"And who might you be?" Steve inquired with a glance at Barnes to make sure he was seeing a kid in their kitchen too.

Peter finally found his voice and his manners. He jumped up off the stool and hastily spewed out his apologies.

"Oh my god, Mr. R-roger, Mr. Barnes! I am so sorry! I didn't know anyone else was on this floor. I should have kept the light off and not made so much noise. I apologize! Geeze, I feel really bad, you guys probably did something really cool and amazing today and were sleeping and I went and woke you up! Sorry again. I'll just go."

Shock registered on both their faces and oddly enough it was Bucky that stopped Peter from going.

"No, no kid! It's fine, we are just getting in!" He offered, "Um, who are you again?"

"Ah man, I am sorry. Hi, hi. I am Peter. Peter Parker," he blushed a deep red, "I am Mr. Stark's new intern."

"Oh?" Steve said narrowing his eyes a bit, "His intern?"

"Yeah, it's actually my first day. Second I guess." He amended looking at the clock. "Anyway, I was just so excited at working in Mr. Stark's lab that I really couldn't sleep so I thought I'd just come down and make a snack." His explanation fizzled to a close under their stares and he found himself shifted nervously. No one spoke for a moment, so Peter added, "Would you like some?"

He held out the plate with the other sandwiches on it. He had made an entire loaf of bread worth, so he had a few to share. (In truth he could have eaten every last one of them, but he didn't want the two to notice his superhuman appetite.)

The offering of food did the trick, both men looked to each other then grinned.

"Oh yes, that would be amazing!" Bucky stated enthusiastically.

"Definitely, it has been a few days since we had decent food!" Steve added.

"Great. I'll just get a couple plates," Peter offered rushing to accommodate the two older men. He placed a plate in front of Captain America and another in front of the Winter soldier. He then divvied up the spoils between the three of them.

"Thank you, Peter. This looks good!" Steve said with a smile.

Peter took a big bite of his sandwich which was met by an expectant growl of his stomach. He really did need to eat more.

After the three of them got around to their second or third sandwich they were more inclined to speak again.

"Kid, you got a gift!" Bucky stated licking some grease off his flesh hand.

Peter chuckled a bit.

"My aunt has to work a lot, so I tend to experiment a bit in the kitchen. Can't say they all turned out this good though. My peanut butter, philly steak sandwich was a disaster. Really should have left the onions off of it!" Peter made a face at the memory causing both men to snicker.

"So, you just started with Stark, how are you liking it so far?" Steve asked.

"Oh, it's great! I never thought Mr. Stark would ever take an interest in someone like me but he had been showing me around the tower and we spent several hours down in his lab! Ms. Potts had to come tell us to get out! He even let me modify one of your prosthetics Mr. Barnes!"

"Stark let you touch one of his prototypes? Stark? Tony Stark?" Bucky said incredulously.

Peter automatically mistook his tone for annoyance at him for touching something so personal and he found himself launch into another apologetic rampage.

Bucky and Steve both rushed to deescalate the situation.

"No, no that's not what I meant!" Bucky assured him.

"Yeah, Bucky was just surprised Tony let someone other then Banner into his lab! And for him to let someone else touch a prototype of something he is working on is unheard of! You really must be something Pete!" Steve added with a smile.

The red that flooded Peter's face was becoming common place and he wasn't sure he liked it. Still, how often does one get a compliment from THE Captain America!

The teen would have liked to continue the talk but he suddenly yawned and both men looked to the clock as one!

"Yup, bed time kiddo!" Steve said suddenly getting up.

"What? No, I am good!" Peter argued meekly. Bucky and Steve wouldn't hear it though.

"Bed!" Bucky said with authority, "And don't worry about this, since you were nice enough to cook Steve and I will clean up."

"Are you sure? I really don't mind," Peter went to pick up his plate, but Steve placed a hand on each of his shoulders and physically turned him around and gave him a nudge towards his room.

"We will come see you tomorrow once you have rested," Steve promised, "If Tony let's you out of his sight."

"OK, you are probably right. Night Mr. Rogers, night Mr. Barnes." Peter called then wondered down the hall back to his super comfy bed. He crawled in and yawned again.

What even was his life? How could this get any better?

The memorable start to his weekend ended up busting apart at the seems when he was awoken not two hours later to an ear-splitting alarm going off. Red lights flashed, and Peter could hear heavy boots running.

Peter jumped out of his bed and grabbed his book bag quickly and pulled on his web shooters before yelling to FRIDAY.

"What's happening FRI?" Peter demanded.

"The Avengers are assembling, there is an imminent threat."

"A threat? Like to the tower?" Peter demanded.

"No, not to the tower. In Chicago."

Peter didn't need to hear any more. He ran to the window where he could hear the roar of engines. He made it just in time to see the Avenger's quinjet lift off the helipad a speed away faster then anything he had ever witnessed.

Although he felt a rush of excitement for what he just got to witness he was also sad that he was now by himself, in Stark tower.

"FRIDAY, do you know when they will be back?" He asked hopefully.

"Normal flight time to Chicago is approx. 2 hrs. The quinjet will make it in 1 1/2hrs. Unfortunately, I can not give you a time for handling the problem. Sorry Peter."

"That's alright FRIDAY. I will wait to see if Mr. Stark contacts me. If not, I'll just head home. I don't want to be in his lab without him."

"Very well, Peter. Would you like me to alert you if there is any change to the Boss' plans?"

"Yes, please." Peter sighed and headed for his room.

On his way to his room he ran into Pepper.

"Oh, there you are, thank goodness! I thought that alarm would scare you off!" She breathed. She looked at his disappointed face and smiled. "Come on, I will make you breakfast then you can help me for a bit, at least until we know what's going on."

"OK," Peter smiled feeling a bit more hopeful.

Half an hour later all hell broke loose again.

Peter and Pepper were sitting in Tony's kitchen having a nice breakfast of pancakes and bacon when another alarm sounded. This one was different, and FRIDAY spoke urgently.

"Ms. Potts there are unidentified intruders coming in through the top floors! It appears they are landing via parachute!" There was a pause then a loud hiss of static. "They have alien tech interfering with my systems …. "Another buzz of static and everything went dead, including the lights. Dim, yellow emergency lights were the only thing remaining.

"FRIDAY? FRIDAY?!" Pepper demanded. "Alright Peter we have to go!" She said grabbing him in one hand and pulling out her cell with the other. "Shit! What ever they are using is cutting out all cell reception as well!"

Peter felt his spidey-sense spike just in time. Peter pulled Pepper down and back behind the kitchen island just as bullets tore up the spot they had been standing. He heard Pepper scream, but he was already on the move.

Three stood at the entrance way, armed with assault rifles. Peter jumped from behind his cover and snared two of the guns pulling them out of the men's hands before he jumped, clearing the counter and caught the first man in the face with a knee. Another round of webs pinned the second man to the wall.

Pain exploded in Peter's ear as he took a right hook, but it would take more then that to halt his momentum. He pivoted, and side thrust kicked the third man in the ribs sending him across the room and crashing to the floor. In the same movement he shot a web in front of him catching the first man by the face. As he brought his kicking foot back in he pulled the man towards him before kicking the foot out in front of him, this time catching the man under the jaw and sending him a few feet into the air before he collapsed into a heap. As he turned, he punched the guy pinned to the wall hard enough to knock him out.

Peter thanked what ever gods were listening that the lights had gone out because there was no way then men, in the weird shadows cast by the emergency lights would be able to make out the details of his face well enough to identify him.

Pepper on the other hand was staring at him with an open mouth.

"Come on Ms. Potts, we got to go remember? I can hear at least seven more of these guys on the floor above us moving fast!"

She seemed inclined to listen and not ask questions for the moment, which Peter was thankful for.

The two took off for the stairway, since the power was out and the elevators wouldn't be working. They had reached the door, but Peter's spidey-sense was spiking again. He held Pepper back and pressed his ear against the metal.

"Move!" He screamed pulling her down a nearby hall and covering her with his own body. The stairway door caved in as a powerful explosion shook the tower. "Is there another way down?" Peter demanded as he stood, shaking the debris from his back.

"Yes. Other, end of the floor! But why would they destroy the stairs? What are they after?"

"Oh, I don't get paid enough to know that!" Peter smirked pulling Pepper to her feet and urging her to take the lead. He didn't know the building as well as her.

"The only thing on the upper floors are the Avengers quarters and Tony's lab …." She trailed off. "Oh no, Tony has some items from SHIELD in his lab, he was trying to dismantle it safely because it had the potential to destroy literal countries!"

That bit of information distressed the young hero greatly.

"One way down to the lab, one way up. That means they have the stairs cover not only for their escape but also any one trying to get away!" Peter pulled Pepper into another hall. "Are you sure there is no other way up or down? If I can get behind them, I can surprise them!"

Pepper thought long and hard before suddenly looking up.

"The vents! Jesus, Clint uses them all the time to scare the crap out of Tony when he is in his lab. When FRIDAY is operational she has lethal measures in place for intruders using them but Clint has Alpha security clearance so he can get through."

"FRIDAY is down right now so I won't have to worry about that. OK, I need you to go hide somewhere secure. Go back and grab one of those goons guns if you have to. There is no one else on out floor right now so you should be safe."

Pepper looked as though she was going to be sick.

"No way Peter! You are coming with me and we are going to wait this out! You are a kid, and I don't care what I saw back there but your safety is more important! Let the professionals deal with the weapons if they get out!"

"Sorry, Ms. Potts you said it yourself, those weapons can destroy countries. That would be millions of people! I can't let them just walk out of here. You got to trust me ok? Can you tell me anything about the vents?"

Pepper still looked like she wanted to argue but instead swallowed her fears and gave Peter a rough idea what to look for once he got inside the ventilation system.

It wasn't five minutes later Peter was leaping into a vent at the end of the hall. His fingers stuck easily to the smooth surface allowing him to speed off at an incredible rate.

It took every bit of focus he had not to get lost and to find the vertical shaft down to the labs floor.

"Well Spider-man, time to save the world!" He muttered to himself looking at the vent with a determined grimace.


	4. Chapter 4

The vents were dark, but Peter used his hearing to get as close to the thieves as he dared. He paused long enough to catch some of their conversation.

"Hurry up Dramo, you said the physical security would be easy once we got the AI off line!"

"It is easy, just a little time consuming!" The second man argued.

"Well we don't have time! We got ten minutes before the pick up arrives at the helipad! The last thing we want to do is still be here once Stark realises something is wrong!" The first man spat.

The crash of metal made Peter jump.

"IN!"

"No time like the present!" Peter mumbled to himself. He crashed feet first though the vent onto the back of the first sentry. He took advantage of the other men's confusion by webbing up a gun, yanking it from a bad guys grip. His second web missed its target, hitting the wall behind them.

"Who the hell is that?"

"It's doesn't matter! Shoot him!"

Peter jumped back and did a hand spring to avoid the sudden barrage of bullets. As he dove around the corner one bullet tore a piece out of his upper arm. Peter hissed in pain as he saw the blood blossom over his skin. It was only a flesh wound at least, despite how much it stung.

The teen risked a glance down the hall. The man he landed on was still down and out. The unarmed man had grabbed his buddies' weapon so now there was two armed sentries covered the backs of the other two men who were pulling items out of Tony's personal storage and throwing it into three large duffle bags.

The longer he waited the worse it was going to be so with a deep breath Peter threw himself back into the fray. His webs hit both their marks this time and he was able to gum up both guns. The men didn't dwell on it though and came at him with calculated punches and kicks.

Peter didn't have any formal training in hand to hand combat, so he relied heavily on his super strength, his flexibility, and his webs.

He ran forward shooting webs before jumping over one man grabbing the ceiling as he went and slammed a foot across his face.

The second man grabbed a fist full of Peter's t-shirt, landed a couple good hooks into his ribs before Peter let go of the ceiling and grabbing the man by the shoulders. He planted his feet in the man's chest. As he yanked back, he brought the man over top of him then kicked him away hard enough he hit the wall with a sickening thud.

Laying on the ground wasn't the best place to be though because Peter was now defending himself from savage kicks. One snapped into his nose and he was forced to scramble to his feet though a waterfall of blood. As he did he was able to snare the last man in his webs before the vicious assault could continue.

The two men with the duffle bags had already taken off for the stair way, leaving their comrades to their fate.

Peter couldn't let them get away. Tony had taken a chance on him, giving this internship, and he didn't want to let him down.

He burst into the stairwell only to dive back out as more bullets rained down on him.

"Kill the freak!" He heard the head jerk yell. "We have to get to the roof, the helicopter is inbound!"

Peter cursed lightly.

"Alright Spider-man," he told himself, "Gotta use that big brain of yours. How are you getting up there?"

Then it dawned on him. The windows didn't open this high up but maybe he could break through one and meet the bad guys at the top. It was worth a try, and better then pushing his luck with the semi-automatics.

The dark halls were good in masking his face to the perps but once he got to the roof it was going to be bright, and his face could easily be seen. It was a problem he didn't have much time to deal with. He tore a strip from his shirt and tied it around the bottom of his still bloody face.

The large window he found took some effort to break out, but it did break. With a nervous laugh he climbed to the edge. He was putting a lot of faith in how adhesive his hands were as he started to scale the wall of smooth glass.

He heard the distant whirr of the helicopter blades and he knew he only had minutes before it was here to pick up the thieves.

He could hear the men above him. Four of them were left. Two were guarding the stairwell to the back of the helipad, the other two had the duffle bags and were waiting on the edge for their ride.

The guns had to be neutralized first. If the ache in his arm was any indication he really didn't want to be shot again.

Surprise was he best weapon so with out anymore dwelling on the huge amount of trouble he was throwing himself into leapt over the edge of the Helipad and charged the two-armed men.

"Shit! Look out!" The leader yelled, spotting the vigilante first. Fortunately, the men had no time to react before webs pinned their arms to their sides then feet kicked them unceremoniously down the open stairwell. Peter flinched.

"Whoops. Sorry!" He yelled down to them, "That might have been a little much!"

The helicopter roared closer and it masked the click of another gun. The only reason Peter was able to avoid the first shot of the pistol was his spidey-sense. It kicked in just in time.

Peter leapt back easily sticking to the wall.

"Don't move freak! Or I will put the next one between your eyes!" The man sneered. The helicopter was almost there. He grabbed one of the bags and the second man grabbed the other two. Slowly they backed up to the edge of the roof. As the helicopter hovered closer, they tossed the bags into the open sliding door.

Peter threw himself forward into a roll shooting one web towards the gun, one towards the merchandise. He missed on both accounts. The webs instead caught the helicopter.

Quick thinking made Peter attach the other end of webs to Stark tower. Effectively preventing the helicopter from taking off with Tony's things. It did however leave him wide open.

With a curse the leader raised his gun to a wide-eyed Peter. It happened so fast the teen froze for a split second. Just as the gun went off a shield smashed it from the thief's hands.

Captain America followed his shield to the helipad, promptly punching the man out.

Ironman grabbed the helicopter and hit it with some of his own tech that short circuited it's systems. Using his thrusters Ironman eased the bird to the Helipad.

From the Quinjet hovering above them Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Bucky jumped down to take the helicopter pilot and the last man into custody while securing Tony's property.

The excitement Peter felt for seeing the hero's at work was cut short by a cold feeling seep over his stomach. Confused, Peter removed the cloth covering his face and looked down.

Blood soaked through his t-shirt, though Peter couldn't understand where it was coming from.

As he tried to piece it together, he looked up to see Tony walk out of his Ironman suit towards him. At first he was grinning from ear to ear but then the man's face fell as he took stock of the injuries.

"Pete?" He asked uncertainly.

"Pepper is hiding on your floor Mr. Stark, she might have a gun, so I would announce yourself first." Peter laughed, but that hurt so he stopped and grimaced instead. He felt tired.

"Peter, you need to keep those eyes open. Pete? PETE?"

Peter didn't catch the rest of that, he just knew he was cold and tired, and the Avengers were here now so he could rest.

An annoying beeping kept pushing its way into his blissfully empty mind. He wanted to shut it off but that meant he had to open his eyes and he wasn't sure he could to do that just yet.

As he struggled with those obstacles, he came around enough to notice that there were voices mixed in with the beeps.

"Found three more on your floor, all of them wrapped in that weird sticky stuff."

"Same as the three in the lab!"

"Alright Tony, who is this kid? And how did he take out seven armed men by himself?"

"Well he is my intern. Hired him Friday." Tony answered. At least that's who Peter assumed it was. "But he might have some other gifts that we hadn't even discussed yet."

"Meaning?" A stern female voice cut through the fog in Peter's head and he forced himself to look over at the one and only Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff. She was glaring at Tony and Peter didn't like it, it wasn't Mr. Stark's fault this happen.

"Hi, my name is Peter," He muttered as he tried to force himself to sit up. Steve Rogers placed a hand on his chest and pushed him back down, silently urging him not to move like that again. The rest of the adults came over to stand around him. He kept his eyes on Natasha, "My name is Peter Parker, but I, I am also Spider-man."

A silence followed that statement and Peter felt compelled to fill it.

"I didn't want them to hurt Ms. Potts or steal Mr. Starks stuff. And I swear I wouldn't have destroyed that window or anything if I could have thought of a better way to get to the roof. I am sorry if I over stepped my bounds. I should have told Mr. Stark before something like this happened …" He was talking so fast and his thoughts were so jumbled that he was causing himself to hyperventilate.

"Easy there Pete!" Tony jumped in placing a hand on the kids' shoulder. He wasn't good at the dealing with emotions things, but he couldn't help but notice the physical contact seemed to calm the boy instantly. "No one is mad at you, you did an amazing job even though you didn't have to!"

"He is right Peter, you shouldn't have put yourself in danger like that! But no one can deny your results!" Steve added kindly.

"So, Spider-man huh?" Natasha commented. Peter shrunk a bit at her glare. "More like Spider-baby. How old are you, twelve?"

"Fifteen," Peter muttered not quite looking at the woman. She huffed a bit but didn't voice her disapproval any farther.

"What exactly are your powers?" Clint Barton asked, him and Dr. Bruce Banner stood near the door with a tray of food. "Those webs? Do those come out of you!?"

Peter chuckled but immediately stopped when pain made him whimper slightly. Steve and Tony jumped up to hover over him protectively.

After a moment Peter relaxed again and spoke.

"Um, no. Those come from my web-shooters. I made the fluid myself." He added with a grin to Tony. The man smirked and looked rather proud of that fact. "I do have enhanced senses. Super strength. Crazy metabolism. A pretty good healing factor too. Most things take about half the time."

"I was going to ask about that." Dr. Banner said as he placed the food on a small table and wheeled it closer. "Your gun shot wound has already started closing and your nose and arm don't even have scars left! What gave you those abilities?"

Peter didn't answer the question. His mind was still stuck on another part of that conversation.

"Gun shot wound?" He asked unsure.

The group shared a look.

"Yes. You took a bullet to your abdominal." Bruce stated pointing vague towards the offending area.

Not that he didn't believe the doctor, but Peter was over come by a morbid sense of curiosity. He lifted the blanket and saw his middle was wrapped in red stained bandages.

Peter let his head fall back with a loud moan.

"What's wrong Pete? Is it hurting?" Tony demanded.

"My aunt is going to kill me!" Peter declared, his voice filled with teen angst.


	5. Chapter 5

It had been a long week at school after all the excitement from the weekend. Peter wasn't fortunate enough that the bullet wound was healed by the time he had to go back but Tony had given his Aunt May a well fabricated story about pulling a muscle while helping him in the lab. In return May sent him with a letter excusing him from any physical activity.

Ned had bombarded him with so many questions that Peter had to really watch himself for spilling what actually happened.

By the end of the week though his stomach felt much better and he was excited to get back on the streets and help people.

What he hadn't counted on was a sleek black car sitting in front of the school, with Tony's personal driver standing beside it.

Ned almost ripped his arm off when he noticed it as well.

"Ohmygod. Ohmygod. Ohmygod." Ned chanted. "Is that for you? Wow! Ohmygod. Peter, peter, you have to send me a ton of pictures!"

Peter frowned at his friend.

"I am not sure what Happy is doing here Ned, maybe he isn't here to take me to the tower." He admitted but Ned wasn't hearing him. He was to busy vibrating with excitement.

Peter swallowed his own nerves and approached Happy. He hadn't officially met the man, but he knew who he was.

"Hello, Mr. Hogan, sir. I'm Peter. Peter Parker? Are you here for me? I didn't know Mr. Stark wanted me to come back this weekend. How …."

Happy Hogan didn't like kids, and this one had him irritated already with his non-stop chattering. Still he had his orders so he raised a hand to silence the teen.

"Just get in the car kid. I have instructions to make sure you get it to Stark tower, not to listen to the monolog of your insecurities!" He snapped.

Peter flinched at the tone but didn't take any offence. He knew he was hard on the nerves some time.

"Sorry Mr. Hogan. I'll try to keep it to a short form." He muttered. He gave Ned a wave good bye then hopped into the back of the car.

The drive was quiet, mostly because Happy kept the divider up so Peter didn't feel inclined to talk to him.

Peter was so excited to see Stark tower that he quickly forgot about the awkward car ride.

The teen practically skipped out of the back seat to the elevator. Happy let him go and disappeared at the first chance he got.

Peter stepped into the elevator.

"Hello Peter," FRIDAY greeted.

"Hey FRIDAY! How are you feeling after that tech attack last weekend?" Peter asked in concern.

"All my systems have been restored and the Boss took some time to upgrade the towers defences so there won't be a repeat of the attack."

"Oh, that's good! I am glad you are back to your ol' self!"

"Shall I take you to the Avengers training room? That is where the Boss is waiting."

"Yes please!" Peter squealed. He happily bounced on the balls of his feet as he waited for the elevator doors to open. Once they did, he wanted them to close again, quickly.

Tony Stark was waiting for him, but so were the rest of the Avengers. Peter shrunk back as all eyes turned towards him.

He had met them briefly when he was bed-ridden with his gun shot wound but outside that hour and a half he hadn't been around them. Plus, they knew his secret, which he was still trying to come to terms with.

"Hey Pete!" Tony called. Peter gave a small wave but made no move to leave the elevator. Tony seemed to catch on to the nervous flicker in the kid's eyes, so he made it a point to walk over and throw a casual arm across his shoulders. "No need to be anxious kiddo, everyone really wanted to see you again. And if you are feeling up to it Steve thought you could join us for some training sessions."

That sparked the excitement again.

"Really? I can train with you guys! That is amazing!"

"How is the wound?" Natasha demanded abruptly.

Peter flinched but quickly lifted his shirt to show her the light pick scar where the bullet had gone in. She studied it for a moment then offered him a small smile.

"Good. I am glad you are better Baby-spider, that way I don't have to feel bad for pushing you today! If you are going to be interning for Tony and swinging around the city on your own, you need serious improvements to your defences."

"And your suit!" Tony added.

Peter blushed a deep red but didn't argue with them. They had a point.

"So, I believe you have met everyone, Steve, Bucky, Clint, Natasha, and Bruce. Thor isn't here at the moment, but I will introduce you when he gets back." Tony said pointing to each one. Peter gave them each a little wave. "Guys, you remember Peter Parker of course, aka Spider-man."

"Glad to see you on your feet again Peter," Bruce offered.

"Thanks," Peter said.

Peter barely got the words out when his spidey-sense went off and he jumped up and clung to the ceiling. Cap shield bounced off the wall where he had been standing.

"How does that sixth sense of yours work?" He asked with a smirk.

Peter grinned back.

Training turned out to be a rough day. Peter spent a couple hours with every Avenger, each one testing a certain aspect of his skill set.

Steve worked on his strategic planning, Natasha took him through hand to hand combat, Clint had his hands full with his aim, Tony went over the new suit and web shooters he had planned, Bucky went over field prep and emergency planning, and Bruce walked him through a complete analysis of his genetic makeup which included his limits and how his current powers worked.

It was two in the morning when they finally called the quits and Peter look thoroughly exhausted but happy. No one had ever invested that much time in him outside of his Aunt.

"Hey, Mr. Stark?" Peter asked as they took the elevator down a floor to the billionaire's personal quarters. Apparently, he moved Peter's room to his floor, two doors down from his and Pepper's own master bedroom. That way he could keep an eye on the kid, since Pepper demanded assurances on the kid's safety.

"What's up kid?"

"Thank you," Peter said sincerely, "It really does mean a lot that you gave me a chance to be a part of this!"

"No thanks needed kid," Tony said waving a hand, "You proved yourself when you stepped up to those terrorists! You didn't need to protect Pepper, you didn't need to stop those men from taking the weapons, but you did and that shows me you have heart!"

Peter was happy to hear Tony praise him.

For once he slept the entire night without a single nightmare to wake him up.

A few weeks went by and Peter got into the rhythm of his new life. Every other weekend he spent at Stark tower was with the Avengers for training (if they were around), then on Tuesdays and Thursdays he went to help Tony in his lab.

On top of that and school he found time to do at least a couple hours of patrolling every night. He was tired but happy for the first time since he lost Ben.

It wasn't his increased Spider-man presence though that was getting all the attention. It was his presence at Stark tower. The rumors of Tony's new intern spread like wildfire, which only intensified when Peter started using the main entrance on Tuesday and Thursdays.

A few employees knew him from the interview process but most just knew him as Stark's errand boy. The fact he would do jobs for the CEO Pepper Pots, and that he would often be seen taking the special elevator to Tony's personal lab made him an object of both admiration and jealousy.

Peter was often too busy to pay any attention to the looks he would get in the main building, but it was on a Thursday when his spidey-sense started buzzing and he suspected that some one was more then just annoyed with him.

As he looked around, he didn't see an immediate source for the warning system to go off, but he trusted that something wasn't right.

As the feeling stayed with him for several hours he jumped when a hand came down on his shoulder as he attempted to repair an internal component of one of Ironman's suits.

"Easy kid! Just me!" Tony stated with a smile.

"Sorry, spidey-sense is a little temperamental tonight. Can't seem to shake it."

"Probably because you are tired! It's ten o'clock already! Your Aunt is going to freak if you don't get home! Want me to get Happy to drive you?"

"No!" Peter stated quickly and firmly. He wasn't about to deny Happy his one night off that week. "It's fine, I can get there myself."

Tony didn't seem convinced.

"How about I drive you?" He asked. Peter gave him a smirk.

"It's fine Mr. Stark, I was hoping to swing home on my own." He stated. Tony caught the swing pun quick enough and grinned back

"Alright, alright! Text me when your back in your spider-crib so I don't send Natasha out after you!"

Peter bleached. If Tony was a bit over protective it was nothing compared to the Mama-bear that was the Russian Assassin. She put an all new spin on the term Helicopter-parent.

"Yup. I will do that! Have a good night Mr. Stark!"

Peter tossed his bookbag packed with books and one Spider-man suit over his shoulder and took the elevator down to the main entrance. There were still a few employees coming and going even at that late hour.

The teen said good bye to the Security officer Sean at the elevator before exiting through the scanners, he was followed by a female scientist by the name of Cindy and male electrical technician that he had seen many times before but did not know his name.

"Your putting in some late hours Peter," Cindy commented to him with a smile.

"You know how it is, once you get into something you can blink, and half the day is gone!"

"That is true! Have a good night Peter." She broke away and headed for the parking lot. The man followed him to the bus stop.

They stood in silence for a long moment, Peter's spidey-sense didn't stop buzzing so he shifted nervously as he looked around. He caught the man's eye for a brief moment. The man smiled at him.

"So, you must be the infamous Peter everyone has been talking about," he said. Peter tried to laugh it off but as on edge as he was it came out more forced then he intended. "My name is Mark."

"Hey," Peter greeted. Suddenly his spidey-sense spiked, and Peter swung around just in time to see a black van barreling towards them. The teen jumped back as it screeched to a halt, half on the curb. He was so focused on the van he didn't register Mark until a needle was jammed into his neck from behind.

He didn't know what was in the syringe, but it overtook his system faster then his healing factor could combat it. As his body went limp, he dropped his book bag and fell with a dull thump to the ground.

"Come on Scarlotti! Grab the brat and let's get out of here before Stark knows his little pet is gone!"

Peter had heard the words, but his body just wouldn't work. Hands grabbed his arms and legs and he felt himself be tossed into the back of the van.

A few moments later not even his mind would work, and everything went dark.


	6. Chapter 6

The men that took him had no idea that he was Spider-man, they didn't know that he had a healing factor that doubled his metabolism, and since they did not know these things, they were ill prepared to handle a freaked out super teen in the back of a moving van.

The sedative they gave him had worn off in record time and Peter was so far beyond caring if these goons pieced his identity together it was laughable.

They were barely out of the city, off highway 287 near Durham Woods, when Peter came to. The dark subdivisions were backed in trees and there was no one on the roads.

Those things turned out to be in his favor because the first thing Peter did was kick the kidnapper closest to him square in the chest, knocking him into the front seat.

The van swerved dangerously before tipping on to its side and skidded to a halt in an explosion of sparks.

Peter recovered quick enough to wrestle his wrists out of the ropes, leaving a fair amount of laceration in their wake. He grabbed the man to his left and exchanged a couple punches with him, earning him a black eye but the other man a concussion.

With two out of five men down Peter turned his attention to the back doors that had busted open during the crash. He bolted out without a second thought, his eyes set on the woods to his left.

He got four running steps before a metal whip came out of nowhere and wrapped itself around his ankles sending him face first into concrete, scraping his chin.

Peter twisted over to his back in time to see Mark step out of the van. His torso was encased in a black ballistic vest and in his hand were two metal whips. The one around his ankles started to hum and before Peter could react electricity shot through his entire body.

The boy convulsed before managing to get his feet free. Scrambling to get up, he faced off with the whip wielding psycho.

"I don't know how you managed that you little shit, but you can't get rid of me so easily!" He snarled.

The remaining men slowly untangled themselves from the wreck and joined their boss.

Peter would have loved to have his web shooters, but since he didn't, he did the only thing he could think of that would throw the men for a loop. He ran at them, using his agility and flexibility to avoid their attacks. Natasha would be so proud.

Peter focused on the man armed with the gun first, taking him down with a series of wrist locks and punches. Since his attention was diverted the man with the whips had no problem sneaking his toys into the fray.

His Spidey-sense allowed him to get out of the way of the first one, but the second one caught him across the back fully. It sliced his shirt clean through and left a long bloody gash along with a shock.

He didn't dare disengage from the man he was fighting since the gun was still in play, so the teen had to endure a second strike to the back of his legs before he finished the henchman off and sprung backwards. Tossing the gun off into the darkness.

The metal started snapping at him at a faster pace as he danced out of the way.

Peter was getting tired of this game of tag but then his ears picked up a sound that made him smile.

"I would really hate to be you right now," Peter rolled backwards to distance himself from the whips and to make room.

How Natasha got the Quinjet to beat Tony to the scene, Peter didn't know, but Mark was gonna wish the Billionaire had been a little quicker.

Mark was standing for a total of four seconds before Natasha had him pinned to ground, hooks in, and arm thrown across his throat. He was out before he could even gurgle. Ironman was a few seconds behind to flying tackle the two remaining men.

All in all pretty anticlimactic for Peter, he had gave it everything he got to escape and those two took the baddies out in seconds.

Once the men were properly secured Natasha hugged him tight.

"Oh baby-spider, what happened? Are you alright?" She demanded, in Russian, but instead of waiting for him to answer she started checking him all over.

Tony stood there with a relieved look on his face, a look that slowly slid away to one of sadness.

It had been a hectic night and May was waiting for him when they finally got home. Natasha said good bye, but when Peter turned to talk to Tony the man was gone.

He was a bit confused because now that he thought of it, Tony hadn't said anything to him since the rescue.

Tuesday came around and Peter was excited to meet Happy after school in order to go to the labs.

He bolted outside only to see the black sedan was not there yet. The teen stood off to the side as the rest of the student body dispersed to their various rides. After an hour and a half, he had to think Happy wasn't coming.

The teen sent a text to Tony and Happy saying that he was going to head home, assuming something important came up.

Happy replied twenty mins later, apologizing but saying that there was an emergency and that the lab would have to be cancelled for the week.

Friday came and his hopes of at least training with the Avengers were dashed as well by a simple text, again from Happy.

Two weeks later Peter received the answer why Tony was avoiding him.

As Peter was sorting through the pile of mail, he saw an official letter from Stark industries.

Curious, he popped it open and read it quickly. Then he reread it. And again.

A choked gasp escaped his throat.

He glanced around the empty apartment, his chest constricted.

His first thought was that it was a mistake, so he sent another text to Tony but then the automated message that came back confirmed his horror.

 _Message could not be sent. Contact your provider if problem persists._

Now his mind was racing. What did he do? How did he screw up so bad that Tony wouldn't even talk to him?

Then it came to him. The kidnapping.

After all the time and effort, the Avengers put in to training him, he couldn't even stop a few guys from taking him. He was a liability. Tony had him in his personal lab, he was privy to so many top-secret projects and he couldn't even keep himself safe.

Peter slid down the wall, so he was sitting and pulled his knees to his chest. He was a liability to Tony Stark, and to the Avengers. This was all his fault.

A horrible coldness seeped into his chest and his limps felt like rocks. He couldn't even find the energy to cry.

When his aunt found him later that night he was in the same spot. She helped him back to his bed, chalking it up to a sickness, and for the rest of the weekend that is where he stayed.

He ate and moved only enough that Aunt May didn't insist on him going to the hospital. The offending letter stayed tucked in his hand the whole time. His last line to his mentor.

The only thing that made him feel anything over the next two weeks was his patrols. It wasn't a good feeling per say but it gave him a few minutes of adrenaline to focus his anger. At least that was something he could still control.

He would do a couple hours after school, go home to do homework and see May, then once she was in bed or at work he went back out. If he got three hours of sleep in a night, he would be lucky

He was stopping lots of crime, helping lots of people but it was lacking his regular fast-talking quips, and yes he was becoming much more efficient but he was also being reckless. His own safety was low on his priority list.

It was Friday night, and May was going to work a double at the hospital leaving Peter free to spend the whole time out without any worries of raising suspicion.

He swung through the streets searching for some kind of action. The sun was starting to go down before he finally found something.

Normally he would have left the firefighting to the professionals, he had no training in that sort of thing but what made him stop at the scene was screams of people caught inside.

Without a second thought Spider-man shot a web to the top of the building and swung feet first into a lower story window.

His mask filtered very little of the smoke and there was zero visibility. Still he could hear the people. Using his hearing and the thermal vision setting in his eye lenses he started through the building. It took two minutes to locate the first person. A woman, unconscious, slumped against the door frame.

Spider-man grabbed the woman and gently positioned her over his shoulder. He didn't want to break anymore windows in case it sped up the spread of the fire, so he got back to his initial entry point and swung down to the street.

"Hey! Hey over here!" Spider-man yelled. A firefighter saw him and ran over to assist.

"Don't go back in there, Spider-man! The building is very unstable! It could collapse at any second!" The man tried to reason.

"There are more people trapped!" He said over his shoulder as he headed back for the window.

The screams inside were getting more and more faint and the young hero feared the worse. He searched frantically, he found nothing so he went down to the next floor, where the fire was burning so hot it seared his lungs with every breath.

He could barely make anything out with his thermal vision, everything looked white. It was only once he turned it back to regular vision that he saw it. In the apartment bathroom. Two little forms huddled in the bottom of a tub.

Spider-man suppressed a violent coughing fit. He grabbed the kids and bolted back out the hall. His Spidey-sense flared sharply, and he jumped back just in time for a beam to smash down where he had just been.

Through the smoke and debris, he saw the light of a window. He had one chance so he took it. Hugging the kids to his chest the teen threw himself out the window, back first. He was able to secure a web for a couple seconds before he hit the pavement with a thud.

He was pretty sure he cracked a few ribs, but nothing mattered at that moment except those two tiny people still tucked into his chest.

EMT's and firefighters ran over and grabbed the kids. Spider-man pushed himself to his knees, coughing violently.

A horrible crash signalled the collapse of part of the building, but Spider-man did not take his eyes off the two the emergency services were working on.

The little girl took a sharp inhale and started to cry, and cough. A woman broke free of the crowd and threw herself into the child's arms.

"Oh, my baby! My baby! I couldn't find you! Where did you go? Where?" Cried the woman.

The young hero let himself breath a little as he looked to the second child, a little boy.

A woman was giving chest compressions, another was giving breaths every now and then.

Spider-man didn't know how long he watched them go on, but his heart started to ache when the emergency personal stopped. He couldn't understand why they were stopping, they needed to help him.

One of the firefighters closest to him gave his shoulder a squeeze. The female that had been giving the breaths sat back on her heels and gave a soft sob.

The mother who was holding the little girl wailed as she realized what this all meant.

Spider-man couldn't stay. He couldn't handle seeing the mother's loss.

Peter yanked the mask off and threw it across his room before collapsing beside his bed and giving a hoarse sob. He buried his face into the blankets and just let out everything he had been bottling up for weeks.

It was an hour later there was a knock on the door. Peter couldn't be bothered to stand so he ignored it. The pounding became more insistent then suddenly there was the sound of splintered wood.

"What the hell….?!" He heard a man snap.

"I am pretty sure I can afford a door!" came Tony Stark's reply. "Kid? Pete? Are you here?"

Peter hid his tear streaked face in the blanket, not wanting a man like Tony Stark to see him cry.

Foot steps stopped at his bedroom door.

"Pete?" Tony's voice was surprisingly gentle. Peter was still in his suit minus the mask, huddled in a small ball by his bed. It was not a look that gave someone the impression the teen was doing well. "Happy, can you give me a minute to talk to him?"

The second set of footsteps left.

Peter felt the brush of fabric as Tony sat right beside him. The man hesitated for a moment before placing a hand on one of his shoulders.

"Peter? Can we talk please?" Tony asked. "I saw the news and rushed right over. I watched you throw yourself into that burning building. What were you thinking?!"

The increase of volume for that last question made Peter flinch and Tony automatically felt bad.

"You could have got yourself killed kid! And if that happened, I would never forgive myself!"

"I am fine." Peter mumbled into the blankets, he just wanted the man to leave, he didn't need to be pitied.

Tony turned so he could grip both of Peter's shoulders and eased him up right, so he could see him.

"Peter. These last few weeks have really sucked, and when I saw you go into that building, I realized I needed to clear the air."

"I screwed up, I know. You had every right to fire me. I don't blame you, but can you go now? I am kinda having a rough day and would like to be alone." Peter asked.

Tony stared at him blankly for a moment. Peter sighed and moved so he was at least sitting on the bed and not on the floor. Eventually Tony followed him up.

"Pete, I did not fire you because you did something wrong. I fired you so that you would be safe, I didn't like that you were targeted just because you were close to me, so I cut all ties, officially as well so everyone would know and leave you alone." He stated.

"That's stupid." Peter said flatly. "I'm Spider-man, I can get into all the trouble I need by myself."

Tony surprisingly, didn't call him on the stupid comment.

"I know. Well, I realized that now. You did throw yourself into a burning building, and that didn't involve me in anyway." Tony agreed. "So, kid, I am sorry. You are un-fired, and you can come back to the tower tonight so Natasha will stop yelling at me and hug you."

That made Peter feel a bit better but when he looked up into Tony's eyes something in him broke again and he started to cry.

The billionaire froze, looking both confused and scared. He didn't deal with emotions well and the kid obviously needed something else.

"Pete, it's ok. I mean, come on it's all done now. Won't happen again, I swear!"

Peter was shaking his head before Tony even finished his sentence.

"I-it's n-not that," Peter stammered as he hugged his arms around his middle, "D-did you see the rest of that report on the fire?"

Tony thought then shook his head no. Watching Peter go into that building was enough to make his queasy.

"I saved two people," Peter said then paused.

"OK, that's good right? You did a good job," Tony stated, confused.

"I brought three out of the building. A little boy," Tears flowed freely down his cheeks. "A little boy didn't make it. He was so small. And his poor mother …."

Tony did the only thing that seemed right. He wrapped his arms around the kid and held him tight.

When he had gotten word that Peter had been kidnapped he had a cold feeling in the pit of his stomach, he was so sure it was his fault and he needed to fix it. Now, to see the same kid before him, crying because he lost someone he had been trying to save he realized he couldn't fix anything. The best he could do was to be there whenever the boy needed him.


	7. Chapter 7

Peter glanced up from the math book when he realised Ned was talking to him.

"Sorry, Ned, what did you say? I was just finishing this up."

Ned smirked and shook his head.

"Nothing too important, just that Mr. Harris posted the class trip information."

"Class trip … ?" It took Peter a moment to realize what he had missed. "Oh! Oh, the trip! Where are we going this year? I hope Harris didn't take Flash's suggestion seriously!"

After the rough month that Peter had he just wanted to do something fun with his friend for once.

A huge grin spread across Ned's face as he turned his laptop to face the other teen. Peter looked over the school website until he saw a picture of Mr. Harris then the write up.

It took a grand total of two seconds to read the paragraph and suddenly feel his stomach tighten.

Stark Industries.

Peter looked up to still see Ned beaming.

"This is going to be so cool! You can finally show me where you work!"

Peter smiled. Things had gone back to normal mostly with Mr. Stark, and his training with the Avengers was going strong. He enjoyed his time there but mixing his personal life with school just didn't feel like a good idea.

"Yeah, yeah I guess I can!"

His internship at Stark Industries wasn't a secret to any of the employees at the tower but since he was hired by Mr. Stark himself it wasn't a common piece of knowledge outside the building.

As a result, only Ned believed that he worked there. The winners of the Junior internship that he had originally applied for had their pictures plastered over several science publications and people liked to point out none of which were him. It bothered him only because he was being labelled as a liar, not because he was looking for some sort of validation.

The next couple of days were rough with Flash harassing him every chance he got about the trip, even Mr. Harris` had made some off-hand comments that struck a nerve with the teen.

Finally the day of the trip arrived.

"So please everyone, be on your best behavior! Very few people have been granted a tour of Stark tower and we want our school to be invited back!" Mr. Harris yelled as students started to pile into the bus.

Peter went to climb aboard when a shoulder shoved him forcefully out of the way. Of course, he could have held his ground, but for the sake of keeping his secret Peter went with the motion and fell to the side.

Flash grinned widely as he stepped onto the bus.

"What are you doing here anyway, Penis? I figured you would skip today, you know since you see Stark tower all the time." He drawled. A few students around them snickered.

"You're holding up the line Flash," Mr. Harris said without much conviction, "And leave Peter alone. If I may quote 'A lie takes care of the present, but it has no future.' Wise words to remember. Everyone on the bus!"

As Peter took his seat, he couldn't help but scowl. He was used to being bullied but not by the teacher as well. He had half a mind to text Tony and ask for some grand gesture to prove he was not lying, but that seemed so petty on his part that he just sighed and slumped down in his seat farther.

Ned flopped down beside him, and it didn't take long for his excitement to have Peter smiling again. They watched funny vines and played games on their cell phones until the two buses pulled up outside of Stark Tower.

The building was still as magnificent as the first time he walked through those front doors. He couldn't help but smile, this building was really his second home and he didn't need that validated by anyone.

"This is so cool! Oh my god, I can't wait to see inside!" Ned gushed.

"I doubt they will let us, but you should see Mr. Stark's lab on level seventy-two. And Mr. Banner's lab on fifty is impressive as well! Ooo, or the testing lab on forty, it looks like a war zone with burn marks and exploded parts all over the place." Peter told him. He was happy to at least share this with Ned.

"Alright everyone. Line up here for a moment while I give you some ground rules!" Mr. Harris waited until everyone was gathered around him. "Not to sound like a broken record but everyone needs to be on their best behaviour in here. We will be splitting up into two tour groups, so we aren't clogging up their work stations. Listen to your tour guides! I can not stress this enough! Anyone misbehaving will be sent back to wait on the bus, no warnings, straight back! Alright, here are your groups!"

Peter moved forward to look at the sheet. To his absolute dismay he was not with Ned, or even M.J. Instead he was stuck with Flash, some of Flash's posse, Mr. Harris, along with a few people he didn't know that well.

There was nothing that could be done. Peter watched as his two friends left with the other group, Ned giving him a little wave, M.J. flipping him off.

Giving in to his sulky attitude Peter followed his group inside to wait by the reception desk to start.

A young man soon appeared with a box of name tags in his hand.

"Hello everyone!" He greeted. "My name is Nathaniel and I will be your conductor for today! Stark Industries usually does not allow tour groups into the tower, but our brillant CEO thought it would be nice to invest some time with the next generation! See if we can encourage the future great minds to join the winning team!"

His beaming smile was genuine, and it was hard to wallow in self pity when someone, so bubble was around. Peter didn't know him, but if he was a university intern that wouldn't be weird. The regular interns were mostly on the lower labs and it was rare for Peter to find himself down there.

"I am going to start off by handing out these security badges. You must keep them on at all times, and where they can be seen since Mr. Stark's AI F.R.I.D.A.Y. periodically scans the halls for anyone that is out of place."

Nathanial passed cards to everyone including Mr. Harris. As Peter started to pin his to his hoodie his spidey-sense blared then he felt a sharp elbow dig into his back.

"What are ya doin' Penis? Don't have your own badge? The man who works here doesn't recognize you, maybe you should speak up, tell him you are an intern?" Flash sneered to the delight of his cronies.

The teen tried to ignore him. He had never gotten a tour of the building and he was sure there was going to be lots of stuff he had never seen before, so he didn't want to be sent back to the bus for fighting with Flash. As for his badge, it was safely tucked in his pocket, the gold card with his picture would have gotten him access to anywhere, but he was with his class and he felt he should abide by the same rules they had to.

"Alright! Everyone have their passes? Great, if you will all follow me, we are going to start with the exhibition room here on the main floor. It is a collection of some of Howard and Tony Stark's greatest inventions."

As they entered the room it felt like a museum, large glass cabinets behind velvet ropes lined all the walls and big information boards dotted the open floor.

"This display is on the main floor because Mr. Stark likes people to see where it all began. How little ideas can snowball and eventually form the top technological conglomerate of modern history!"

Peter had to admit Nathanial talked a good game and he was right of course, the items displayed here were the start of some of the biggest breakthroughs the company had ever had.

"I will give you guys a few minutes to look around here, read the boards, then we will head up to our first stop, the theoretical labs, where we have several teams working on inventing the next big thing!"

The super teen wondered away from the group and looked at the displays with interest. It was when he found the first prototype for the arc reactor that he paused to read the board. It detailed how Tony had made the thing in a cave while being held against his will. How the little device was first used to keep shrapnel out of the billionaire's heart, then to power the first Ironman suit.

Peter almost sighed out loud when his spidey-sense went off again. Flash and his followers pushed his roughly out of the way before crowding around the glass that he had been looking at.

This was starting to get old quick, but the teen let it go and wandered to another display.

Eventually they made their way up a couple floors to the labs the older Intern had been talking about. He showed them the different brain storming tools they incorporated and the simulators they had to run numbers for them.

By the time they made it to the testing labs on level forty Peter was thoroughly annoyed. No one seemed to notice that he was being shoved, tripped, and mocked almost continuously. At one-point Peter was sure Mr. Harris had looked right at him when Flash called him a particularly nasty name but turned away without comment.

Out side the testing lab, an older Engineer was talking to them about the safety measures in place before they could continue. Once he finished, he led the group through the big double doors to a huge open room. At first it seemed pretty boring until some new inventions were introduced. One wouldn't work at all, one fizzled for a moment then shot out a puff od black smoke, then another exploded with a loud pop.

Peter took this opportunity to step back out the doors and use his gold badge to enter an adjacent office that was currently unoccupied.

"FRIDAY?" Peter asked the ceiling.

"Hello Peter. Why are you not in school?"

"I am on a field trip with my class. I figured I should be using a visitor badge since I am technically not working." He explained.

"I understand. Though you should be aware, my biometric scans told me of your arrival, the pass is not needed. The Boss has you as one of my top priority guests, so if you should need something in a hurry, I can bypass certain security measures."

That made sense, seeing as sometimes he came in through the helipad entrance wearing his Spider-man suit, and that thing was way too tight to clip a pass to.

"That's good to know FRI. Is Mr. Stark here today?" He wrung his hands a bit nervously as he asked.

"Not yet Peter. The Boss will be in later with Ms. Potts to end the tour with a presentation."

Peter felt his chest drop a bit.

"Oh, ok FRI. Thank you."

"Is there anything I can help you with Peter?"

"No, it's ok FRI. I just wanted to run something by him."

Peter left the office and joined the group again. He was not thrilled when Mr. Harris grabbed his upper arm and pulled him to the side.

"Where did you go Parker? I said to stick with the group. You will not embarrass this school with any of your disappearing antics!"

"I was just …" Peter started but was automatically cut off.

"I don't want to hear it! You can keep the excuses and what ever story you were going to give me to yourself! Just do as your told!"

Peter felt about an inch tall. He had never lied to anyone about his work or anything else for that matter, so he couldn't figure out why he was being treated like a delinquent.

This was a horrible day.

Steve, Bucky and Natasha almost jumped out of their skins when the overhead speaker blared FRIDAY's voice.

"Mr. Rogers, are you available for a moment?" The AI inquired.

"Sure FRIDAY, go ahead." Steve answered. The trio was going over some intel they had received on a possible Hydra base, but it was old news seeing as Bucky had already wiped it off the map not two weeks ago.

"Mr. Stark has left me with instructions to contact you with anything pertaining to Peter Parker."

Steve gave a confused look to Natasha.

"Yes, that's fine FRIDAY. Is something wrong?"

"Mr. Parker is in the building with his classmates for a school excursion. He contacted me a moment ago looking for Mr. Stark and his vitals were slightly irregular indicating stress."

"Did he say what he wanted?" Bucky asked.

"No, when I told him Mr. Stark was not in the building, he ended the conversation. Forty-five seconds later his vitals spiked again."

"FRIDAY, show us the video of Peter when his vitals spiked." Natasha said.

A hologram popped up in front of them with a clear picture of the young Spider. The three adults watched as Peter was taken aside and they heard the teacher's words.

The scene only confused them more since they knew Peter well and couldn't understand why he was being spoken to in such a manner.

"FRIDAY, show all the other clips of Peter when he seemed under duress." Steve ordered.

As the videos played, with sound, Natasha could feel her shoulders tighten and her fingers started to tap a slow march against her arm.

"I think we need to go speak with our little _Spider-baby_ ," she stated, the last words being in Russian, "Find out why he is being bullied, and why he is taking it."

Steve and Bucky exchanged a concerned glance.

"Maybe we should go down, in casual clothes, and find out what's going on first," Steve suggested.

"Agreed," Bucky nodded, "I don't think Tony would appreciate a minor being stabbed in his tower!"

Natasha glanced down at the black dagger that had basically materialized in her hand. Reluctantly she slid it back to it's hiding place.

"Fine." She snapped. Though her facial expression still showed that she was thinking about skewering a bully.


	8. Intern Finale!

Tony lounged back in the soft leather seats as Happy drove him back to the tower. He was hoping to catch Peter's class to give them a final inspirational send off.

He took a sip of his drink as his fingers flipped through his phone. The device suddenly vibrated with a call. Tony rolled his eyes as he accepted and brought up a video chat with Natasha.

"Yes Ms. Romanoff?" Tony drawled. Her usually stoic face was marred by a deep frown.

"Are you on your way back to the tower Tony?" She demanded.

"Missing me? I am the life of the party." He smiled charmingly. Her scowl told him this was about something else.

"Were you aware Peter has a bully?" She demanded, "And that _Spider-baby_ isn't fighting back because he is hell bent on keeping his powers secret?"

This time it was Tony's turn to frown. He didn't know any of that, Peter had neglected to tell him.

"Go speak with his teacher, I'll be there in ten minutes."

"Oh yeah, did I mention his teacher knows but allowed it to happen because he seems to think Peter is lying about being your intern?!" Her anger very apparent.

"Oh really?" He sneered. An odd sense of protectiveness swelled in his chest. "Nat, grab Steve and James. I know how we are going to deal with this."

Peter had mixed feelings when Steve and Bucky had showed up in the labs his class was currently touring.

Luckily, they just asked a few questions and left before any one could figure out who they were. He could only assume FRIDAY had showed them something that made them ask about Flash, he should have felt bad for ratting the other teen out, but he was having too bad of a day to really care.

As he caught back up to the group, he found Mr. Harris waiting for him with a scowl.

"Didn't we just talk about you disappearing?" The teacher snapped.

"Yes, but …"

"No! No more excuses Mr. Parker! I am taking you down to the bus, you can finish off your day there!"

"But Mr. Harris I was just …."

"GO Mr. Parker!"

His class snickered and whispered as they turned to see who Mr. Harris was tuning out. Flash was supporting a particularly large smirk.

Peter's face flushed red and followed his teacher with his head down.

Outside Mr. Harris left the boy with the grumpy old bus driver before heading back into Stark tower.

Peter looked up at the A on the side of the tower with a mixture of anger and sadness, how could he get kicked out of his own home?

The rest of the class took their seats in the auditorium. Tony and Pepper stood off to the side watching the group.

"Where is Peter?" Pepper asked. She was aware of the situation and was glad Tony had decided to set the record straight. Steve came up behind them.

"Apparently the teacher has banished him to wait on the bus," he answered after a quick chat with FRIDAY. Tony shook his head.

"Alright. Pep, can you and Nat go get our boy please? The rest of you, lets get this done. Avengers, assembly!"

Pepper shook her head at his attempt at humour. Tony shrugged, he couldn't be on all the time.

Tony took command of everyone's attention as soon as he swept on to the stage. He oozed confidence, charisma and charm. Loud cheers and fangirl squeals filled the hall.

"Yes, yes I know! I am awesome!" He caroled, "Welcome! To Stark industries!"

More cheering.

"Not many people get a chance to see the wonders of this place! And since I have made a special exception for you lot, I thought I would make the experience even better!" He swept an arm out and Steve Rogers came onto the stage with him, followed by Bucky.

The class went wild with cheering and screams. Tony held up a hand and the room instantly quieted.

"So, you have seen some of the labs, you've seen the administration, and the high-tech training tools. But that's not the only thing we do at Stark industries! For example, I have personally designed and built Cap's shield, I designed an entirely new prosthetic for Sergeant Barnes, and of course …."

Tony threw out his arms dramatically and his Nano-tech Ironman suit sprung to life much to the delight of the crowd. As it disappeared again Tony smiled.

"I am sure you are all wondering what other secret projects we have been up to here at Stark industries right? Well this next one is big! It is also the reason you all got invited here today. I assume you know the city's favorite web-head right?"

There was a murmur of excitement.

"Well Stark Industries was commissioned to build the Spider-man's next suit to help keep this great city safe!" A hologram of an amazing new metal-infused Spider-man suit sprung out from the floor and the group gasped. "This is the Iron-Spider. This impressive design was not conceived by me though. This is brain-child of my personal intern, and your very own Peter Parker!"

A pin could have been heard dropping. The students all looked to one another before ultimately turning to their teacher, Mr. Harris.

"Where is Peter?" Tony asked, knowing full well he wasn't there. Mr. Harris seemed to shrink under the billionaire's scrutinizing glare.

"Mr. Parker is outside," he finally answered.

"Outside? Why would one of my employees be outside when I am sure he would love to tell you about his new project?"

"It seems I have made a mistake. I was under the impression Mr. Parker was not being entirely truthful about his employment here, and as a result was a bit harsh with him."

Tony frowned.

"Next time, maybe don't make such bold assumptions." He snapped. "Perhaps you should also do your job when a student is being bullied."

FRIDAY projected the security camera footage on to a nearby wall for all to see. It showed Flash pushing and taunting the smaller teen.

Mr. Harris turned red and hung his head low.

His expression was nothing compared to Flash's when Captain America and the Winter Soldier hopped down from the stage to corner him in his chair.

"Son, that there is something that I just can't stand," Steve stated, "Peter is a good friend of ours and to watch you pick on him really irks me."

"I think we should step outside and have a good talk about this," Bucky growled in his best scary voice. The two men took the boys arms and marched him through the side door much to his dismay.

Just then Pepper and Natasha entered the room through the double doors with Peter in tow.

Peter froze when he saw the ten-foot hologram of his new suit. His eyes went wide, and he almost choked on his own tongue.

"Ah, there he is! The man of the hour! I thought you would like to share your new project with your classmates. It's not everyday you get to build a suit for a superhero!"

Natasha wrapped an arm around the boy's shoulders and escorted him to the stage.

"Ah, yeah, sure." Peter muttered.

After the presentation the Avengers mingled with the students and answered their questions.

Steve and Bucky returned eventually with a very pale Flash. The teen silently joined his friends and didn't look at anyone.

Peter almost felt bad.

Tony threw an arm over the young intern's shoulder and smirked as more students approached them to congratulate Peter on his work and ask him many questions.

Eventually the tour ended, and the students reluctantly got back on the bus.

Peter was going to join them, but Tony stopped him short and spoke with Mr. Harris.

"Peter is just going to stay here Mr. Harris, he has work this evening anyway."

"Um, I am sorry Mr. Stark but I can't just release a student to you." The teacher tried being professional.

"Oh, it is quite alright Mr. Harris, you may phone the school. They will tell you I already signed him out."

"But only a guardian can sign out a student."

"Yes, I know." Tony was losing his patience, he wasn't used to people questioning him. "May Parker and I have already made the arrangements that I am added to Peter's emergency contacts and custodian list."

Mr. Harris looked dumbfounded. He turned away to make the call but soon came back with a sheepish smile.

"Yes, of course Mr. Stark."

The teacher practically bolted away to get out of the billionaire's sight.

Peter waited until the buses pulled away before bursting into frantic stutters.

"Oh geeze, Mr. Stark, I mean Tony, you almost made me crap my pants when I saw the Spider-man suit up on the hologram! What the hell! I mean, I get it now but give a guy a heart attack! And when did you and May change the papers at school? And what did you guys say to Flash? He looked like he really did soil himself!"

Tony did something then that was out of character for him, but the group could only smile and refused to make fun of him for it. He hugged the boy.

Pepper and Natasha couldn't help themselves and flung their arms around the adorable duo. Steve and Bucky did the only manly thing they could. They looked away from each other and made it a group hug.

"You guys are great." Peter muttered into Tony's shoulder.


	9. Chapter 9 EXTRA 12

Peter was happy to be outside enjoying some much-needed sun. Between his nighttime outings and being stuck inside for his Stark internship during the day he hadn't got to see much of it that summer.

A week into August and he was starting to think of his senior year of high school. There was a lot of pressure from Tony and May for him to do well and get into a good college. Tony seemed oddly sure he would be attending MIT even though he had not even applied yet.

With August came another important milestone for the young superhero, it would be his first birthday with Tony around. He didn't want the billionaire to dote on him, or get him some ridiculously expensive gift, he just wanted someone besides his aunt to hang out with him for the day. Ned and MJ were gone with their families on vacation and besides the Avengers, there was no one else he wanted to share his 16th birthday with.

The problem was he didn't know how to bring the topic up with the man that didn't make it sound like he was looking for something.

He was thinking this over when he heard some loud voices coming from his right. When he turned down the street to see what it was about a large group of people were standing around a newspaper stand. They were voicing their opinions on the front-page story.

The title read "Top Minds meeting in NYC to discuss the Mutant Registration act!"

Peter frowned as several of the adults spouted off random bigotry to try to make their point. He pulled out his cell phone as he walked away to read the story without having to listen to that crap.

After finishing the story, and reading several more, he had a bad taste in his mouth, and had several questions. His own classification in such registrations being a major one.

Although technically not a mutant his genetic makeup was still altered, and he did posses superhuman abilities. Would he have to walk into one of those registration buildings and announce who and what he was? Would he have to allow them to take his DNA and wear a tracking bracelet?

The very thought made him shutter; he would be treated worse than the criminals he caught every day.

He didn't say much as he walked into his apartment and flopped down on his bed, his birthday was suddenly the last thing on his mind.

Later the night once May had gone to bed Peter pulled on his suit and slipped out the window. Nothing like stopping some villains to better a young hero's mood.

Spiderman effortlessly swung through the city keeping a keen ear and eye open for any disturbances. There were several protests for and against the registration around downtown but so far, they were peaceful. Closer to the Ritz-Carlton, where all the dignitaries were staying, things were surprisingly quiet.

With Spidey-sense on high alert he perched on a nearby building and studied the surroundings. Something was very off.

A split second before the dart would have found his neck Spiderman leapt up to stick on the side of the wall.

"Whoa, easy there quick draw, I wasn't doing anything!" He quipped as he looked down at the three men in black suits and earpieces.

"Right, like we would believe that mutant scum!" One snapped. It was fortunate the young hero had quick reflexes because the next three darts came too close for comfort.

"Just gotta say, you boys are wasting your time here, I was just making my rounds!" He web-shot the guns onto a nearby wall. "If you run into real trouble, you remember 911 cause this friendly neighbor Spiderman is outta here!"

There were some more profanities flung his way but he didn't mind, those security guards didn't amount too much in the grand scheme of things. The super teen had only swung a few blocks when the back of his neck exploded in his Spidey-sense.

He sprung off the closest building to land on the edge of a tall tower. Looking back, the way he came he had to give his head to shake to make sure he was seeing what he was seeing.

Metal antennas and the fire escapes around the hotel were all twisted inward, as if drawn but some powerful source. The guards he had just dealt with were unconscious and dangling like grotesque puppets over the street. Below three figures were strolling casually forward.

Spiderman usually dealt with clean cut criminal cases. A man just held up the old lady at gun point. Cut and dry he was a robber. That group of thugs were kicking the crap out of a guy. Yup, there were guilty of assault.

What ever was in motion in front of him was not like that. There was a political element that complicated things and made the young hero question his involvement.

His conscience won out in the end. Whatever these three had on their agenda it was not going to involve harming people in his city. He was planning on swinging in and engaging the lead man but before he got within fifty feet several metal objects and sharp poles struck out in his direction. Spiderman was able to avoid most but one bar snared his ankle forcing him to miss his next shot and fall to the cold pavement below.

The three didn't even look in his direction as he hit the ground with a thud.

"OK, that hurt." He muttered before snapping up to his feet. "Whoa! Wait up guys. I am pretty sure I need to check your ID's to make sure you are guests at this fine establishment." They didn't acknowledge he spoke so the teen did the only thing he could think of to get their attention. With several precision shots he barred their way through the front door with several sticky strands of webbing. It might not look like much; but the textile strength of the substance rivaled any other material of the same diameter.

Landing lightly in front of the three, Spiderman got his first look at who he was facing. The lithe male in the back was a few years older than himself, his dark hair was slicked back, and his clothes were well worn and charred in places.

The female was pretty but not in a way that would stand out. Simple, classic beauty that would turn a few heads but would be just as quickly forgotten. Still, something was wrong. Something about her eyes not matching the rest of her.

Then there was the lead male. Older gentleman, with silver hair, cold calculating eyes, straight back and superior stance. His grey suit was pressed with sharp line, and on his head was a helmet that looked like something that could have been off an old-time knight.

"Sorry, we are closed. Feel free to take a number and try back again tomorrow!"

His humour was not appreciated.

"I am only going to tell you this once pup. Walk away. This fight is bigger than your little vigilante act."

"Sorry Pops. They might have been assholes but dangling New York city residents over pavement just doesn't sit well with me."

With a little twitch of his hand, the man sent a sewer cover straight into the Spiderman's sternum while simultaneously pulling the entrance of the hotel apart like a tuna can.

The metal disc slammed the teen back into a brick building, he grunted and dropped to his knees, struggling to get a breath back in his deflated lungs. Sirens sounded a way off alerting the superhero to the cops approaching.

From what he saw the last thing he wanted was the cops pulling up in their metal cars giving this psycho anything else to use as a weapon.

As soon as he had oxygen back in his body, he was back to his feet and in pursuit. Instead of using his normal tactic he switched it up and web-shot both the older man and the woman pulling them to an abrupt halt before using his adhesive footing and super strength to sling shot the two back out the door. His Spidey-sense alerted him to the attack of the second man.

The teen didn't have time to comprehend that the human before him was shooting flames from his hands, or that he could manipulate the inferno to lash out much like a whip. He just knew he had to move if he didn't want to become a toasted Spider!

In the haste to escape the heat he lost track of the other two. His game of tag with the pyro turned into dodgeball as several metal objects come flying at his head. In his distraction his right arm caught on fire forcing him to retreat to put it out.

"Help me!" Came a distressed cry. Spiderman jumped back in, actively looking for the source of the call. Finally, he saw a small child frantically scrambling to get out of the chaos.

Shooting his web to the ceiling the young hero swooped in to grab the child, putting his back in the line of fire literally. Outside Spiderman used the brick building to smoother the flames on his back.

"There ya go kid! I suggest you get out of here. This is gonna get ugly!" He said to the little boy. There was a briefest of a pause where he wondered why a child that young was awake and by themselves in a hotel lobby before the six-year-old sprouted full, blue female legs that easily wrapped around his throat before fully morphing back into the female assassin, taking him to the ground completely.

Using his strength, he managed to throw the woman off before having to dive for cover behind a block of concrete as flames engulfed the area. From his hiding spot he only caught a glimpse of the older man's form ascend the elevator shaft. Fearing what would happen if the man reached his destination Spiderman leapt out and shot a web to the ceiling. He used his momentum to swing across the room and dive headfirst into the opening, catching a grip on the inside wall.

As fast as his arms and legs could take him, he bolted straight up. Not even his spidey-sense had time to warn him of the sudden elevator speeding down towards his head. There was no sound, and the way it moved indicated it was no longer on its cables and the man had dropped it purposely to stop him.

Normally he would have been quick to jump out of the way, but something told him the elevator wasn't empty. A feeling in his gut.

The teen didn't know if he could stop the elevator, or if it was just going to crush him but he had to try. He let the metal smash into his back before shooting webbing out as fast as he could. It took several scary moments and almost all his cannisters of webbing to stop the descent, thankfully before he was squashed at the bottom.

It was fortunate his powers were maturing with him because if he had tried this stunt even a few months ago he would have been torn to shreds, fortunately with time his very skin was toughening up enough he only came out with some, admittedly bad, bruising.

Carefully he pulled open the doors and peered inside. There on the floor was an unconscious hotel worker. Spiderman carefully lifted the woman free and brought her to solid ground. There were several people peeking out their rooms to see what was going on.

"Hey! You! Yeah you come here and make sure she is comfortable and phone 911!" Spiderman demanded at the closest head he saw.

Finally, he made it to the roof to see that the ones he had been fighting were no where to be found. He cursed and took a moment to think. The building was starting to be surrounded by cop cars now and a figure on a nearby roof caught the young man's attention.

Quickly he made his exit to a safer location where he met up with the shiny red and gold Ironman.

"You alright kid?" The metal armour demanded.

Spiderman tried to take stock of what damage was done but his disappointment of letting the bad guys go was overriding his brain.

"Ah geez Mr. Stark, that was so messed up! I tried. I mean I thought I had them on the ropes for a minute but then that lady tricked me into thinking she was a kid, and I can't just leave a kid! And that fire dude! But when metal-head dropped the elevator on me! That was it, I lost them, and they got away and…"

The Ironman suit opened and a half-amused half-stern Tony Stark stepped free which caused the teen to stutter to a stop and wait for the lecture.

"They did get away, grabbed one of the senators as they went but we are on it, kid. Rogers is on the trail with some outside help." He paused to give a little grin. "I must say though, you fared better then most. Whole teams of mutants have tried taking on Magneto and lost."

"Mag-what? You know that guy? What outside help? Why are you here instead of with them? Don't tell me you came here just to check on me? Mr. Star…"

Tony raised an eyebrow and Spiderman physical flinched and shut up again.

"Come on Underoos, use that big brain of yours. What use is Ironman against a man that can manipulate metals?"

The teen's cheeks burnt red under his mask.

"And of course, I came to check on you. You mentioned having an elevator being dropped on you? Come on, back to the tower, I'll patch you up and we can wait for news together."

The young hero perked up at that thought and eagerly followed Ironman back to Stark tower.


	10. Chapter 10

After several hours of tense waiting, and scolding's from Tony about the state of his arms. Rogers and the rest of the team arrived back at the tower.

Peter made sure to pull his mask back on as he sized-up the newcomers. A man with a visor, a boy a few years older than himself that looked as if he was made of ice, a blue man-beast, a chick with gloves and a white streak in her hair, and a burly, angry-looking man.

"We appreciate letting us use your tower for our base until this conference is over." The blue one said, holding out a giant paw to Tony. Tony looked at it but quickly deflected the handshake into a motioning gesture. Peter was glad he was wearing the mask, it hid the grin, Tony didn't like handshakes or being handed anything.

"Of course, please come this way, I have set up a lab just for you Professor McCoy. I trust you were able to secure the senator in time?"

Peter wanted to follow them, but Steve caught his eye. The man nodded towards the exit. He respected that the Captain wanted a word, so he followed without complaint. Only once the elevator opened on the Avengers floor did he speak.

"Pete, me and others were talking and we don't want you swinging around the city until this situation is handled. The place is swarming with anti-mutant protestors, armed security, government agents and God knows who else. It is too dangerous for a well-meaning Spider to be out there. If any one of those agencies got a hold of you, I fear you would be nothing more then a test subject!"

Peter reached up and pulled his mask off with a sigh just as Natasha approached them.

"He is right _baby-spider,_ it is too dangerous. But don't you worry, if anyone ever tries to take you, I will make sure they burn before any of their tools ever touched you!"

Peter gulped a little at her intensity, knowing she meant it. She kissed his forehead before heading back to the kitchen area.

"I don't want to make you guys worry. I don't. But the city isn't just going to shut down because there are new whack-o's in town. I'd be skirting my responsibility, and why? Because I am a coward who runs and hides when things get a little sticky?" His face was pulled in frustration and pleading but Steve stood firm.

"The city survived long before Spiderman and will still be here when Spiderman hits the streets again in a couple days. No vigilante stuff until this anti-mutant conference is done!"

"But I'm not even a mutant." Peter huffed, flopping dramatically back on a near by sofa. To busy brooding he didn't see the slight grin on the Captain's face.

"Come on. I will give you a ride home. I am sure you want to be there when your Aunt gets up."

That brought Peter out of his mood real quick. It was getting on to three in the morning.

"Oh Geeze! Yes. If you aren't going to let me swing home then a ride will have to do." He paused looking slightly guilty. "I kind of wanted to see Tony before I left."

"Tomorrow. Come on."

With a firm hand on his shoulder Peter couldn't put up much of a fight. Once he was changed into his normal clothes Steve forced him into a motorcycle helmet and plopped him on the back of his bike.

Beside from swinging, a motorcycle was a best way to get through the city. Now that he was officially sixteen years and three hours old, maybe he could convince to Captain or Bucky to teach him how to drive one.

The fact it was his birthday did not escape him, but he felt a little awkward just blurting out it was his birthday and the Avengers had bigger things to worry about, so he promised he would ask them next week.

Steve parked in the alley outside Peter's apartment building allowing the teen plenty of cover to scale the wall back into his bedroom.

Peter slept a whopping three hours before he heard May get up to start getting ready for her shift at the hospital.

He slid into one of the kitchen chairs, watching her hum and sway as she poured herself a coffee to start her day. As she turned she nearly jumped a foot off the ground.

"Peter! Good lord, I didn't hear you get up! Why are you up at this early hour?"

"Sorry aunt May, just wanted to see you off for work. By the look of the news you are going to have a busy day."

"Mmm." She frowned deeply. "Yes I saw, and they already phoned me twice for overtime!"

Peter nodded, knowing she would take it, because she felt the need to do everything herself and refused to let him and his intern paycheck go towards anything like rent. He got up and gave her a hug.

"I understand. Don't worry, I am gonna be here when you get off, apartment cleaned and supper ready."

"Aww thank you sweetie." She turned to leave but paused and opened a nearby cupboard, tossing him a small wrapped package. "Before I go, I want to see you open that. Didn't think I could forget my sweet boys sixteenth birthday did you?"

Peter grinned wide and opened it. The simple black frame held a picture of two people, smiling back. The quality wasn't great and the edges were a bit worn, but there they were clear as day.

"Took me awhile to find anyone that had a picture of them together." May smiled.

Peter sat heavily on the chair, Richard and Mary Parker staring back at him from the frame. He remembered very few details about his parents, since he was so young when their plane crashed, but now that he saw them looking back at him he could swear he could smell his fathers aftershave, and though the faded picture didn't show them very well, the vivid green of his mother's eyes.

"May …" It didn't happen very often, but the young superhero was at a lose for words. She hugged him deep and with love.

"Happy birthday my boy." She kissed the top of his head. "There is a cake in the fridge just for you. Try and save me a piece for tonight, ok?"

"You got it May."

Lost in thought for about an hour Peter finally came out of it. He set the frame carefully on his bedside table and pulled out his phone.

 _Morning! U around today? – Peter_

 _Helping the x-men with their problem. But I could use a smart intern for some logistics – Tony_

 _OMW! Bus is gonna take forever but I told C I wouldn't get there my normal way till this blows over – Peter_

 _Good! Be safe! – Tony_

Peter grabbed a shower and got dressed. Jeans and a science pun t-shirt, and a zip up sweater that hid his web-shooters. No need to go anywhere unprepared.

The bus was agonizingly slow. It did give Peter a chance to see the rally goers close up. Most were respectful, and that was from either side, but each side had their radicals. It was a group of the former that got on the bus looking for trouble.

Peter sat back in his seat, one headphone on to try and keep the noise to an acceptable level; the city sounds sometimes over stimulated his senses and he had to take steps to keep from freaking out sometimes. Even with the music in one ear there was no mistaking the radical, racist slurs being thrown around. Nor did it stop him from watching the group zero in on a slim, young woman carrying a grocery bag and sporting an equal rights pin.

It took about two minutes before he had heard enough. Looking every bit the nerdy kid he was he approached the group and cleared his throat.

"Sorry to interrupt this fascinating peek into a uneducated man's take on mutagenesis but I don't believe she got in your face, screaming that her way is the only way of thinking, so I don't know why you think it is right that you do that to her."

"Beat it pipsqueak! This is none of your business!" He paused and looked down at Peter. "Unless you're one of those mutant loving nutsacks! Is that it? You think those freaks deserve to take everything that is ours? We are the Church of Humanity and we are here to make sure HUMAN's come first!"

"They are human. Be it a gene or by some external factor that made them a bit different, they are still human. And all humans deserve their basic rights."

There was a burst of applause from some on the bus before the massive man snarled and lunged forward. Peter wasn't about to display his powers for all to see, even though he meant what he said he didn't believe that everyone would be so understanding when actually face to face with a superpower, so instead he relied on Natasha's hand to hand training.

A little boost in his speed and strength was ok, but the techniques she had showed him were designed to work for any size defender against any size attacker.

In the middle of the commotion the bus lurched to a stop throwing everyone forward.

Police came in both doors and started pulling about the combatants.

"Come on. Everyone off the bus!" The officer closest to Peter bellowed.

Peter sighed and followed the rest off the bus. After giving a statement he was sent on his way, free to walk the rest of the way to Avengers tower.

Walking was definitely not the way to get through the city when one was used to swinging.

On his way he came across a large pro-rights demonstration. He was picking his way through when his spidey-sense blared. Whipping around a shady figure caught his eye, straightening from a makeshift platform.

Following his gut Peter jogged over to the spot the man had just left, there was nothing out of the ordinary so he kneeled down to look underneath.

It was the size of a large textbook, and the digital timer was counting down from one minute.

With stomach suddenly in his throat Peter looked around at all the people, there wasn't time to disarm it.

"Bomb! He screamed at the top of his lungs, waving his arms to get their attention. "Bomb!" It was enough to get people moving but there was no clearing the blast radius if he didn't do something. Still screaming 'bomb' he did the only thing he could think of. He grabbed the bomb and bolted for a nearby alley that didn't have hundreds of people in it.

He had made two running steps into the alley before he reached back and threw the bomb. It detonated midair, the concussion wave tunneled off the walls and hit Peter full on, throwing him back towards the square along with anyone that was remotely close.

Everything slowed as Peter flew back, he could feel bones breaking, he hit the pavement with a dull thud, darkness creeping into his vision.

Tony was standing in his lab sipping a coffee with Professor McCoy when the news alert blared on the television.

"A pro-rights demonstration has been the target of a terriorist organization known as the Church of Humanity. Moments ago a bomb went off in the middle of a crowded square, three confirmed dead, but it would have been more if not for the brave actions of an unidentified young man. Be warned the following video is graphic."

A shaky video showed a large group with signs before off to the right there was screams and a familiar figure yelling bomb.

Tony watched in horror as the small form of Peter Parker tried to get the people away before grabbing the package and running. The camera followed as he tried to run.

He disappeared behind a building when it went off. The camera shook and when it straightend there were bodies laying everywhere.

"Oh no!" Tony breathed, Hank shook his head.

"It's a sad day."

But Tony was not paying attention.

"FRIDAY get Natasha and Steve, tell them Peter was in that square. Dispatch a drone to the area, and contact the hospitals. He can't go to the emergency room."

"Tony, Wolverine is close to there, do you want him on scene?"

"Yes. He is looking for Peter Parker, fifteen year old boy, messy brown hair, science t-shirt. He was the one that grabbed the bomb!"

Tony bolted, already calling his suit.

In the confusion no one took notice of a single figure calmly walking through the chaos.

She paused at the prone figure, intrigued that he was still breathing, albeit ragged, wet breaths caused but what was probably several broken ribs.

Ignoring what additional damage she did by lifting him up onto her shoulder she picked him up and walked away.


End file.
